Miracles of Jesus - Part 13

Matthew 8:8, 23-27; Mark 4:35-41; Luke 8:22-25

If you were one of the disciples, who had just been rebuked for your lack of faith, what would you have done differently in that storm? How does one deny their faith in the midst of a storm? How does one practice their faith in the face of a life-threatening danger? These are not easy questions to answer, but they are questions that our text raises.

For some, the stilling of the storm is an easy text to interpret and apply. They would tell us that we “trust Jesus in the storms of our life.” However, how is this done? How does one practice faith in the frantic moments of life? How should we have responded if we were in that storm and if we were practicing our faith? It is not as simple as it seems. The account of the stilling of the storm is one that requires a good bit of thought and study.

The stilling of the storm occurred on the day that Jesus had taught the crowds by means of parables on the shore of the Sea of Galilee.The crowds lined the shore, while Jesus taught from a boat, anchored just off shore. It was evening (Mark 4:35), and Jesus had finished His teaching, so He instructed His disciples to cross the lake by boat to the other side. They left the crowd behind on shore, but some of those who were listening from on board other little boats followed as they set out to cross the lake (Mark 4:36). During the crossing of the lake Jesus fell asleep in the back of the boat, on a cushion (Mark 4:38).

Without warning, a storm came upon the lake. The winds blew fiercely, whipping the water into mountainous waves. The boat and its passengers were in serious danger. The seasoned sailors on board understood the threat even better than the rest and all were frightened. No doubt, they did everything possible to secure the boat and to attempt to weather the storm. The boat was being swamped by the waves, which swept over the bow. Jesus, at the rear of the boat, was least affected. The disciples were scared; Jesus slept. How could He sleep? Why was He not even aware of their plight? We are told the disciples woke Him. Aroused from His sleep, Jesus stood and rebuked the winds and the waves. Instantly the winds ceased. More astoundingly, the raging waters were calm. Normally, considerable time is required for the waves to cease, even though the winds have long since diminished. Yet here, all was calm. The sea was as smooth as glass. Jesus gently rebuked the disciples for their fear and for their lack of faith. The disciples, however, were too shaken by what they have seen to think about what Jesus had just said. They were overwhelmed by what He had just done. Speaking to one another they pondered not only what had just happened, but also who is with them in the boat (Luke 8:25). What Jesus has just done was even more startling than the life-threatening storm itself.

The account of the stilling of the storm lacks many details. The reason for the omission of the details prior to and during the storm is focus of the incident. This incident focuses on faith, or perhaps more accurately, the absence of faith on the part of the disciples. The disciples were afraid, and their words and actions toward Jesus were less than what was expected of them. Jesus spoke to them only about the faith that they should have had. Let us seek to identify the principles taught by this incident that pertain to faith.

What was Jesus looking for in the disciples and did not find; faith. Jesus did not expect them to do anything in the midst of that storm but to trust in Him. Instead, they rebuked Him for His lack of caring and activity. Jesus viewed the disciple’s lack of faith as a serious problem. The Lord gently, but firmly, rebuked them for their unbelief and for their fear.

Faith is what Jesus seeks in those who follow Him (Luke 18:8). The lack of faith causes displeasure. It is by faith that we are saved from our sins (Ephesians 3:8-9; Romans 3:22). We are to live by faith (Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11). Whatever is not of faith is sin (Romans 14:23). It was faith that saved Abraham (Romans 4), it was faith that sustained all of the heroes of the faith named or alluded to in Hebrews chapter 11. It is faith from which obedience flows (Romans 16:26).It is by faith that we stand (2 Corinthians 1:24). Faith is the shield which protects us from satanic attack (Ephesians 6:16). Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

The disciples lack of faith does not please our Lord here, nor does it do so elsewhere (Matthew 14:31). It was dishonoring to Jesus for it showed that the disciples did not view Him as the Son of God and the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (Colossians 1:16-17). In addition, the disciples’ lack of faith caused them unnecessary worry and fear.

Jesus’ rebuke of the disciples, regardless of how gentle it may have been, indicates that the disciples were expected to have faith, and were held accountable for failing to have faith. While faith is, in one sense, a gift of God, faith is also a gift that may be accepted or refused. Faith involves man’s choice.

Sometimes faith is a decision that requires us to take action. It requires us to do that which God has commanded, trusting in God to fulfill His purposes and promises as we act in obedience to His command, even though such obedience seems to be foolish, even destructive. At other times, a decision of faith requires us to be passive. Faith sometimes must passively wait, at a time when we would be tempted to act on our own to bring about a certain result. God promised Abraham a son. By faith, he should have patiently waited. Instead, Abraham produced a son through his wife’s handmaid. This was an act of unbelief, which continues to have its adverse consequences. Faith acts, sometimes by waiting, and other times by working.

The disciples’ lack of faith is exposed in their crisis experience on the Sea of Galilee. Faith’s absence or presence is revealed in the traumas of life. Apart from this storm, the disciples would have continued to appear and to feel as though they had control of the situation. Their panic on the lake showed otherwise. The crises of life reveal our faith. God sent trials into Job’s life to show that his relationship to God was a matter of faith, not of mere self-interest, as Satan suggested (Job 1).James tells us the purpose of trials is to test and to deepen our faith (James 1:2-3). The tests and the trials of life, life’s crises, simply expose those flaws and failures in our faith which have long been there, but which are only revealed under stress and pressure. If possessing faith is important, then we can be grateful for the tests that reveal our weaknesses.

The disciple’s fear is evidence of a lack of faith. The fear that the disciples displayed in the storm and faith are mutually exclusive. Where you find fear, faith is absent. When you find faith, fear is gone. In their fear, the disciples made too much of the problem and too little of God’s provisions. They viewed themselves as on the brink of disaster, at death’s doorway. In reality, they were only “beginning to be in danger” (Luke 8:23, NASV). The boat was beginning to fill up, but the disciples saw it as full. Fear maximizes the problem and minimizes God’s provisions and presence.

Worry is an even greater sin than fear. Fear is based upon reality; there was a serious storm raging. Worry is based upon the possibility of trouble. “What if I lose my job?” “What if I get sick and can’t work?” Fear is being in a boat that is in a storm and is filling up with water. Worry is standing on shore, too frightened to get into a boat. Fear has more basis than worry, even though it is wrong.

Faith does not deny danger nor minimize it. Faith involves risk from a human perspective. Faith puts oneself, one’s future, one’s safety on the line. Faith entrusts oneself to God in the midst of danger. Faith faces danger with peace and tranquility. Fear faces danger in frenzy. Faith is willing to take risks, based on the promises and purposes of God. Fear avoids danger at all costs. Faith is not gambling, toying with danger, for gambling is based on chance, while faith is based upon God. Faith focuses on God its object is God. Since the incarnation of Christ, faith focuses on God incarnate, Jesus Christ. The disciples did not just lack faith; they lacked faith in Christ, the One who was in the boat with them. The words of the disciples, after the stilling of the storm, reveal their utter failure to grasp the greatness of the One who was with them. They lacked faith in His power, in His presence, in His goodness.

Faith is not trusting in God for those things that will happen in and of themselves. Faith is trusting in the God who miraculously intervenes to do that which is humanly impossible. Faith is not based upon statistics, but on supernaturalism. Faith trusts God to do that, which cannot be done. The disciples saw no way out of the storm. Jesus stilled the storm, and all, including the boat, made it safely to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

The Scriptures teach us that we are to walk by faith, and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).
In spite of the fact that our bodies are deteriorating, we believe that we will live eternally. While we see that we will die, we believe that we will be raised again. While it appears that those who live according to the Sermon on the Mount will suffer economic disaster, God has promised to provide for our every need. Faith is not based upon statistics, nor upon sight, but upon God’s supernatural power, and upon His promises.